Pokemon Special: The Obsidian & Granite Arc
by Aloiss
Summary: Two teens, a wealthy, narcissistic, yet adventurous boy only interested in winning and gym badges, and an eccentric yet curious small town girl wanting to travel the world embark on a journey across the Mutare Region, all while trying to avoid each other and combating Team Luddite and their hypocritical goals. Rated T
1. Prologue

**ALRIGHTY**

**So this is a fanfiction idea that I've had floating in my head for about_ three _years now, and only got around to brainstorming it about six months ago, and _barely_ got to working on it a week ago. So this prologue is a full three days of full dedication and Googling words and stuff, and I'm pretty glad I finally got around to writing. **

**I'll go into further detail at a later time but let me make a few things clear:**

**\- This _is an OC story_**

**_\- Mutare is a fan region I made up based on Italy, south of Kalos_**

**_\- This takes place between the FRLG and Emerald arcs_**

**So without further ado, here you go, Pokémon Special: The Obsidian &amp; Granite Arc Prologue**

* * *

**June 23rd, 2XXX**

**5:36 PM**

**Centrantico City**

The rusted metal door slammed against the dull concrete wall creating a loud thud that echoed throughout the hall, unheard except by several figures clad in white body armor, their face covered by griseous silver visors protruding from their helmets. The darkness was soon illuminated by the flip of a switch as they proceeded to unzip several equipment bags. One stood out in particular, as he was not wearing any body armor of any kind, but was instead dressed formally in a black tuxedo with a red undershirt and a black bowtie. His head was adorned with a fedora matching the formal suit. He was obviously the leader of the group.

"Set up quickly, we're against the clock gentlemen," he said in a booming tone. The man pulled back his sleeve and glanced at his watch.

The armored men pulled out several worn out devices that had a sort of circular switch in the middle and a black outlined triangle with a lightning bolt could be faintly seen on the upper right corner.

"These should knock out everything electronic within a one mile radius for about an hour or less," one of them said as he turned the circle in the middle, adhering the device to the wall.

"Will it knock out our communications?" the man asked as he crossed his arms.

"No sir, our stuff is EMP resistant," he responded.

"Good," he replied checking his watch again. "Right, we have a few minutes so let us go over the plan one last time."

All of the devices were now hanging from the wall, ready to be primed for use. The man casually walked to the door and turned back to the other men, who had circled around him. He took off his fedora, revealing his messy brown hair, and laid on the door post.

"I will give the signal for you guys to detonate the EMPs and during the proceeding chaos and confusion, you will rush in, take the VIP, and leave before law enforcement or any meddling children have time to respond."

"Or the media," chimed in one of the men in the back with hands crossed and his head down.

"Right," he said acknowledging him, "but we'll be able to see their late reactions from the safety of our hideout," he added smugly, earning a few laughs from his small crowd.

"Question sir," one of them asked meekly, with his hand raised.

"What?"

"Is our escape van in the parking garage or outside?"

Indiscernible chatter soon filled the room about the whereabouts of their escape vehicle, which was apparently not made clear beforehand. It quickly turned into a full blown argument between the grunts as the man shook his head and sighed deeply.

"Quiet, you idiots!" he yelled silencing the group almost instantly.

"-how? This moron hasn't even told us why we're kidnapping him!"

All eyes suddenly shifted in the grunts direction, while the grunt himself immediately notice his gaffe. Their leader stood up straight and made his way through the group towards him. He was noticeably shorter than the rest of the guys in the room with him, but stood eye to eye with the grunt in front of him. The man stared at him with a piercing glare with his dark brown eyes.

"That information is classified to us admins, what you need to focus on is doing what you signed up to do," he spitted coldly. Turning away from him, he reached up to place his fedora on his head. "The van is level B2 of the parking garage. There's two vans, go in different directions once you have the VIP, but meet at the same rendezvous point by the outskirts."

The grunts nodded. "Yes sir!" they all said in unison.

"Good," the man said as he approached the exit. "I'll be making my leave now; there is no room for mistake gentlemen," he paused and coughed into his sleeve," we only have one shot at this, and if we fail, we will never have the opportunity at this again. Do NOT disappoint."

He then turned to leave, walking down the hallway and around the corner. As soon as he arrived at the emergency stairs, he dug into his pocket and pulled out his PokeNav, fast dialing a number and promptly putting it up to his ear. He was well aware that since he was underground the signal would be terrible. After a few seconds, the person he called miraculously answered much to his surprise.

"Mons, we're ready. I'm heading to the main hall right now and I'll give the signal when Fallon starts his speech."

"Good. Don't screw this up, Zane. We only have one shot at this," the disembodied voice spoke through the PokeNav speaker.

"Of course sir, that's what I told the grunts. We'll reach our goal in no time," the man, Zane, responded.

"You do realise some of these building are EMP resistant? If the Convention Center is resistant, it will cost us-"

"Relax," Zane interrupted, "we've done our research, it's not EMP resistant. We've gone over the plan countless times, developed a backup plan, and brought along our best operators. We're not failing, not on my watch."

"You better be right Zane, for the sake of our goals and our team."

"Don't worry," he added, "we're not Team Rocket; we won't be brought down by children."

Mons chuckled. "Hopefully. Report to me when it's been done. Mons out."

Zane ended the call and smirked as he exited the emergency stairwell, entering the main hall of the Maestoso Convention Center. As he walked toward his destination, the technology summit being held there, he greeted the security at the entrance and casually strolled in. He smiled at himself as he looked around observing the people around him. All so dependent on technology that they make an annual celebration of it. He thought of it as pathetic.

Zane made his way through the crowds of people to find his designated table; front row, right in front of the podium, perfect to see his grunts and make sure they bag and drag their target. He pulled his chair and sat, taking his hat off and laying it on the table.

"_Technology, should only be in the hands of those who use it responsibly," _he thought. He lived by that ideology and so did the organization he worked for. Not only that, but Zane solely believed he was one of these individuals, capable of using technology responsibly, and for the benefit of both mankind and Pokemon alike.

Zane quickly shifted his eyes as a man walked onto the podium. He wore a tuxedo as well, albeit a blue undershirt and his hair was styled into a faux hawk. Zane instantly recognized him as Professor Arborvitae, Mutare's regional professor who had noticeably made regional headlines not too long ago after a feud with Atavic Corporation, something about a disagreement on a joint technology campaign. He thought of it as disgusting, really.

The professor tapped on the microphone several times, then spoke. "Testing, one, two, three…" His voice echoed throughout the main hall, grabbing everyone's attention.

"Alright, can you guys in the back hear me, yes?" he asked into the microphone, receiving several nods and raised hands from the back of the hall.

"Good, good," he said looking down at the podium, quickly adjusted his collar, and looked back at the crowd before him. "Okay, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to welcome you all fine people, to the Fifteenth Annual International Technology Summit here in Centrantico City, Mutare. I am very honored to be this years host of the Summit, as it is the first time it has ever been held here in Mutare. Now usually, one would give some great, inspiring speech that moves everyone before beginning this event, but not today. I'm not good talking in front of all of you people."

A few laughs could be heard in the crowd and died down almost as soon as it began. The professor smiled and waited for the crowd to quiet down.

"In this case, instead I will pass the spotlight to my former colleague, long time friend, President and Founder of Atavic Corporation, ladies and gentlemen please give it up for Cesar Villanueva!"

The crowd roared with applause as a tall man who was also dressed in a tuxedo with a red bowtie walked up to the podium. As he shook hands with the professor, he exchanged brief words with him, and the professor promptly left the stage.

Zane then placed a small headset on his left ear and covered it with his respective hand.

"Fallon is next, get ready," he said in a fairly low voice.

"Of course sir, you just give the heads up."

"You got it," Zane assured them as he put the headset back in his pocket.

"_Soon… I will have the power," _he thought with a smirk forming on his face.

* * *

**One at this point might be wondering who these people are and what they want, but all will be explained in due time. **

**Also I've realized this was a bit short, even though it is a prologue. I promise to put time and dedication to making the next chapters longer and more detailed. **


	2. The Beginning

**A/N: Alrighty, here is chapter one. We pick up where the prologue left off and the plan discussed by the mysterious individuals is executed.**

**So yeah I really don't have much to say except enjoy ^^**

* * *

**June 23rd 2XXX**

**6:10 PM**

**Centrantico City**

It was all so sudden.

He had simply walked up to the stage, shook hands with Cesar, and captivated the audience with his opening words: "Good evening ladies and gents," he began with a thick English accent.

Then, darkness. The whole convention center went pitch dark as a minuscule explosion-or so it seemed to him-had shook the ground below him, knocking him off his feet. Then followed the panic as it seemed everyone had just completely forgot why they were here and all headed for the two double doors at the entrance. Complete chaos engulfed the formerly sophisticated acting crowds of people, as Stuart could think of only one thing. _Run._

He practically leapt off the stage and began to sprint as fast as he could back to his table, grabbing his briefcase and making a run for the fire exit, although this was not done without difficulty.

The darkness made it near impossible to see in front of him. Stumbling over again as another explosion rocked the building, he took cover under a table to protect himself from any debris and to allow his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Catching his breath as he clung to his briefcase, he took off his glasses and shoved them into his coat pocket. He determined it was better to keep them safe as opposed to losing them and being unable to find them in the darkness despite the fact that it hindered his vision even more.

Minutes passed as the screaming and panic completely stopped and silence had befallen the entire building. Stuart had assumed that everyone had cleared the building. A bit too soon, in fact, for them to have effectively cleared the entire Main Hall in such a small amount of time considering the amount of people that had been present. This sparked an intense curiosity in him as he began to creep out from under his protection. He stopped as soon as he heard footsteps.

He heard voices.

"It's dark as hell in here," he heard a male voice call out.

"Some night vision would've been nice, but no, we get stuck with some crappy flashlights," a second voice, also male complained.

"Stop complaining and look for him," the first one directed sternly.

"How do we know he didn't just run out with the rest? Hell, this entire operation seems to be mandated by luck," the second man continued to complain, ignoring what his partner had said.

One of the two men appeared to be getting closer to the table Stuart was hiding under, he had determined by the source of his footsteps. Stuart swiftly dove back under the table. Running his hand through his combed brown hair, he figured that they were looking for him. That much was obvious. What did they want with him? It only intensified his curiosity. He kept breathing to a minimal in order to make as little noise as possible.

"Where the hell is he?" asked one of them irritated.

"I could've sworn I just saw him dive under one of these tables," said the second man, his voice coming from directly above the table Stuart was under.

Thinking fast, Stuart clutched his brief case, rolled out from under the table, jumped to his legs and made a mad dash to the fire exit in the back. The grunts looked at each other in confusion before coming to the sudden realization that their target had just slipped away from them before their very eyes. Nodding at one another, they headed in opposite directions, one directly chasing after him and another through the main entrance in hopes of cutting him off in the back alley, where the fire escape ended.

Stuart ran as fast and as best as he could in the complete darkness surrounding him. He came to a stop in front of two rusted doors with a sign above that read "Alley Access - Do Not Block".

With a bit of effort, Stuart managed to open the two rusted metal doors leading to a damp, narrow hallway. He scurried inside and was met by complete silence. Hearing footsteps heading in his direction, he immediately turned to close the doors, although with difficulty as the hinges also appeared to be rusted. He laid on the doors and slowly slumped down to the ground. His eyes wandered, hoping to find a flashlight or any sort of object that would illuminate his surroundings better. He spotted several hand held floodlights on a rusted utility rack and approached it. Closer inspection revealed the floodlights to be brand new. He eagerly picked one up and squeezed the switch on the handle, yet no light emitted from inside the bulb.

"What the hell?" He whispered hitting the floodlight. He squeezed the switch a second time and again no light was produced. Annoyed, Stuart grabbed another light, again with the same results.

This puzzled him. It was too much of a coincidence that all of the new flood lights didn't work at all. Checking the battery compartment revealed that the batteries on all of the lights were in pristine condition. It's as if the floodlights were just opened minutes ago. How could these three, brand new, heavy duty floodlights refuse to work despite being new?

Then his heart sunk.

He jabbed his pocket and fished around for his PokeNav, which upon inspection was also not working. He had figured it out. The building didn't just have it's lights shut off, but the explosion that caused that panic earlier was likely an electronic magnetic pulse- an EMP being detonated _all _electronics were practically fried. Realizing this, his heart sunk even more. Fearing the worst, he kneeled down and crawled to his briefcase, not caring about his rather expensive clothes getting tainted by the damp floor.

"It better work," he said worriedly as he input a four digit code into the briefcase's number lock. A satisfying click was heard as it opened in half, revealing it's messy contents of important looking papers.

He smiled gleefully and began to rummage through the briefcase, not caring for the documents inside as he was carelessly tearing away at them.

Then a loud metallic thud vibrated through the double doors and echoed throughout the hall. Stuart look at the door startled. It was those goons he encountered just minutes ago. Another bang was heard as the double doors separating him and his would be captors dented inward. The door was hit once again, and this time the hinges to the doors began to budge from their place. Now panicking, he flipped the briefcase and spilled all of it's contents onto the cement floor. Spotting what he had been frantically searching for, a small USB, he pocketed it instantly and began to run to the opposite side of the hall. He knew the pulse destroyed and wiped the sensitive information kept in the little storage device. Yet, he determined that it could _somehow_ be recovered.

"_Better safe than sorry._" He thought as he ran.

"Dammit Machop, harder!" The grunt ordered as the little gray Pokemon rammed against the two doors one final time, bringing them down and creating a loud thud. Shining his flashlight down the hallway, he only spotted ripped and damp papers scattered all across the floor along with a briefcase.

Machop looked up at it's trainer inquisitively. The grunt returned the look as he kicked the briefcase in rage and watched as it broke in half as soon as it hit the wall. He stomped on the splintered remains angrily. He once again began his pursuit with his Machop staying close behind him.

"Jorge he's heading towards the alley, cut him off!" he yelled into his headset.

"On it!" Jorge responded. "Domenico, left side now!"

Positioning himself at the right side of the fire escape door and Domenico on the left, they readied themselves. Several seconds passed before faint footsteps could be heard approaching the door. The doors flung open, startling both men. Stuart appeared from the darkness of the building and prepared to run to his freedom. Jorge reacted quickly and swung his right fist blindly, smacking Stuart straight in the jaw and knocking him out cold as he collapsed to the wet concrete ground.

"Holy shit dude." The Domenico said approaching Stuart's unconscious body. "You knocked him out cold."

"Makes it easier for us to kidnap him." Jorge said with a smirk. He kneeled down and dug in Stuart's pockets. "What's this?" He asked pulling out the USB Stuart had picked up earlier.

"Better give it to Zane. Might be important," the other grunt suggested.

"Perhaps." He said looking down at the body before him. He looked up as the grunt previously pursuing Stuart earlier approached him with his Machop beside him.

"Looks… like you got him…" the grunt said in between breaths.

"It's about time you got here Enzo."

After a few seconds of heavy breathing, he stood back up straight. "Where's Alessandro?" he asked referring to the grunt accompanying him earlier in the main hall. "He said he was coming to the back alley."

"I sent him to manage the vans."

"Well should we get a move on? Approximately twenty minutes before the electromagnetic pulse wears off," Domenico suggested glancing at the built in digital clock in his visor.

"Of course. Machop will carry him with ease, right, Machop?"

The little Pokémon nodded at it's trainer and proceeded to lift Stuart's body with little effort. The grunts all nodded at each other and headed in the same direction towards the parking garage. Their boots obnoxiously splashed in the puddles left from a rainfall that had occurred earlier in the day.

"Wait, were the van's affected by the pulses?" Enzo asked Jorge, who was at the front of the trio.

"I hope not," he responded, "Or else this operation would have literally been for nothing."

"The fact that _you're_ unsure worries me."

"Well I'm guessing it's something Mons had planned out from the beginning. So hopefully, yes they were somehow unaffected."

The trio of men stopped before a large concrete building that was built in compartments. A white beat up sign discolored by rust read _STAIR ACCESS_. Jorge saw a metal door leading to the stairs and pushed against the opening bar, but it didn't want to budge at all. He backed up and rammed against it full force, only to recoil in pain after doing so. He cursed at the door before backing away, still holding his now bruised arm.

"Did you seriously just do that?" Asked Enzo as he approached the door and examined it. "Nothin' Machop can't handle."

"Just open the damn door!" Jorge scolded.

Enzo nodded. "Machop, kick the door until it breaks!"

Machop nodded and laid Stuart down on the concrete. It walked up to the door and began to kick it with full force, making many dents into the already worn out door. He continued to kick the door and although it seemed at the time the door would break, it didn't, frustrating the grunts.

"Dammit, ten minutes!" Domenico reminded them.

"Harder! Hit it with all you got!"

Machop backed up from the door and did the same as Jorge had done earlier. Running at full speed, Machop crashed into the door and broke it off it's hinges, creating a loud thud that echoed all throughout the empty parking garage.

"Got it. Good job," he said in a praising tone.

Machop nodded and picked Stuart up again, lifting him over his head

"Lets go." Jorge said as he began up the stairwell, followed by Domenico and Enzo. Machop lagged behind them as it dragged Stuart's body up the stairs.

Even though it was a Fighting-type Pokémon, it too could suffer from fatigue. It had tired out from breaking down two metal doors and carrying around a full grown man around, yet it did not want to rest in fear of angering it's trainer despite the fact it's never happened.

"Lights on!" Jorge said pulling his flashlight from his utility belt and turned it on. The darkness of the parking garage illuminated slightly. Dozens of idle vehicles cast a glare off of their reflectors as the men sprinted across the garage to their destination. At the end of the garage were two white vans sporting the logo for _Verdise Construction_ on the sides of the vehicle. As the grunts got closer to the vans, the driver's seat door on the left opened as Alessandro came out to greet them.

"It's been hours." He said sarcastically as he ran around to the back of the van and opened the doors. "Load him up," he directed.

Enzo ordered Machop to drop Stuart inside the van. It nodded and tossed the body inside the van. Enzo drew his pokeball from his pocket and pushed the center button. A flash of light emitted from the ball and consumed the Pokémon back into the pokeball. He then proceeded to climb into the back of the van and sat next to Stuart's body. Jorge and Domenico then followed and sat on the side opposite side to him. Jorge being the closest to the doors stretched out and closed the two doors. He closed his eyes and rested his head on the van's interior.

"_Finally some rest._" He thought.

The van's engine roared to life as the vehicles began to move. The headlights illuminated a larger portion of the garage than the grunts' measly flashlights, which allowed for a larger field of view in the murky darkness and thus made it easier for them to exit the garage.

"Told you the vans would work." Jorge said smugly without even opening his eyes.

Enzo sighed and looked out the window. Another van followed closely to theirs which likely carried the remaining grunts that had accompanied him in the basement while placing the EMP devices. Why so many were chosen for the simple task of kidnapping one man was beyond his comprehension. According to Zane, however, all of the plans made by him and his superiors were well "calculated" and "flawless". It surely didn't seem like it to him but he'd never say anything about it. He wanted to keep his job.

"The security barriers are up?" Alessandro asked from the drivers seat

Domenico nodded. "Yup, I made sure they were left open before we detonated the pulses."

"Great." He responded as he directed the van down the ramp into the first level of the garage. The other van followed closely behind.

"So," Domenico said, "Why /exactly/ did we take this guy? Won't the police be on our asses once they realize he's gone?" He looked at Stuart.

"First they'll try to figure out why the city's electronics suddenly stopped working for about an hour." Jorge said as he leaned forward out of his resting position.

"Then?"

"Then they'll realize an Atavic official has gone missing and they'll raise the alarm. It'll be all over the news but it'll be too late to do anything."

Domenico furrowed his eyebrows. "How do you know that'll happen exactly?"

"I'm just assuming."

The vehicle shook as it hit the speed bumps indicating they had exited the garage. They turned to the right and began to drive away. Alessandro looked into the foggy rearview mirror to assure the second van wasn't following them. Sure enough the second van had made a left turn and drove away in the opposite direction. Keeping his eyes on the road, he reached to the dashboard and grabbed his headset. Pressing the button on the side, static emitted as he put the mic up to his mouth.

"Hello?" he spoke into the mic. Receiving nothing but static as an answer, he pressed the button and tried again. "Hello? Zane?"

"Report," a staticky disembodied voice responded.

"We have him, Stuart I mean."

"Say again, can't hear you clearly."

"We've captured Stuart, I repeat Stuart is with us," Alessandro said rolling his eyes

"Ah, yes. Bring him to the rendezvous point as soon as possible. Zane out."

He tossed the headset onto the passenger's seat and put his hand back on the steering wheel. Looking up he noticed helicopters zooming above. Police sirens wailed from around the street corner and quickly zoomed past the van in the opposite direction, towards the convention center he had just left. Alessandro grinned as he slammed his foot onto the gas pedal and sped off to the north towards Route 40.

* * *

**A/N: Well it appears the villains were successful in kidnapping Stuart Fallon. What do they want with him? Who are these guys anyways? Ah yes, all will be revealed eventually.**

**Although our main characters are not yet introduced, I assure you at least one of them with make their debut soon... as soon as I finish an actual map of the Mutare Region with all the maps and such so you, the readers, won't be confused on which town is which. I will have a brief description on each town and landmark and what IRL town/landmark they're based off. I will have a link to said map on my profile when I finish it.**

**But I guess there isn't really much left to say. But yeah, thanks for reading and stay tuned for Chapter Two .**

**Have a nice day/night. ^^**


	3. Rivals

**I'm so terribly sorry this is overdue. I originally meant to update on the 21st of the last month, but school got in the way. Thankfully, Spring Break is now upon me and hopefully I can get maybe one or two more chapters in within the next 3 weeks?**

**I'll try, but for now enjoy chapter two of the Obsidian and Granite Arc!**

* * *

**June 24th, 2XXX**

**6:29 AM**

**Verdise Town, - Arborvitae Research Lab**

Sunlight filtered through the white plastic blinds,slowly lighting the dim office. A lamp stood on the corner of a wooden desk as its fluorescent light slowly dwindled in intensity as the morning sun rose. A man in his mid-twenties lay on the desk face down, snoring rather loudly. He was dressed in a white lab coat, underneath an untucked dark grey button shirt, dark khaki pants and black slip on shoes. Minutes passed as a ray of light filtering through the window slowly climbed up his face until it was directly on his closed eye.

"Ugh…" He groaned softly as he clumsily triedto swat the light out of eyes.

He slowly lifted his head off of the papers under him as he rubbed his eyes. He yawned loudly as he stood up and glanced down at the desk and saw the mess he had made while he had slumbered on top of it. Important documents were scattered everywhere. Some had even fallen on the floor!

He stumbled around in a hasty fashion as he tried to get everything back in order. While doing so, he cast a quick glance his wristwatch, the time reading 6:29. His eyes widened as he dropped everything and dug into his pockets for his PokeNav.

"Oh come on, where is it?" he muttered, furrowing his brow as he rummaged through the papers on the desk, creating an even bigger mess.

After papers were sent fluttering everywhere, he saw his device on right next to the lamp. He snatched it from it's resting position and swiftly dialed a number as the name "Professor" appeared on the screen.

"Come on, come on...!" he muttered as the phone rang several times. "Pick up!"

"Achille?" the professor answered.

"Professor! Listen, I'm so sorry for being about half an hour late-"

"You were supposed to call me half an hour ago Achille!" he interrupted, his irritation evident. "What the heck have you been doing?"

"I was just about to get to that right before you interrupted-"

"Oh right, so sorry about that," he apologized, interrupting him once again. Achille practically could see the eye roll, as if he expected the answer. "Go on."

Achille swallowed, chuckling slightly. "I fell asleep."

A few awkward seconds of silence fell upon the two before the professor decided to speak up.

"That's it?" he asked. "No excuse? No ridiculous story to try and cover your fault up?"

"What's the point?" Achille sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "You're still going to chew me out anyways like always."

The professor chuckled. "Not this time. I just need to tell you I won't be returning until tomorrow."

"Is it because of-"

"Yes, it is indeed. Authorities have no idea why the technology summit was attacked and who attacked it, nor have any clue where Fallon is," he said cutting him off again. "I'll just hang around a little while longer to see how I can help."

"What about the Pokedexes? Aren't they supposed to arrive today?" Achille managed tostutter out, hoping the professor wouldn't interrupt him again. There was silence for a moment. Achille grinned. Had the professor honestly forgotten about the pokédexes? A low sigh came out on the other end. Achilles assumed he was upset about not being able to personally accept the important items.

"Call Headmaster Patya," he said slowly, as if the gears in his head were turning as he was speaking. "And tell him they've arrived. I want him to get his nominees ready to receive their Pokedex. I'll call Granite and instruct her to receive the Pokedexes from Oak's assistant when they arrive."

"Why can't I pick them up inste-" Achille asked before he was, once again, cut off.

"Because Granite doesn't fall asleep when she knows she has something important to do." Achille sighed. Getting one-upped and replaced by a fifteen-year-old girl... "Now get going, and I'll see you in roughly 20 hours."

"Ugh… fine," Achille sighed. "Ciao."

Right as Achille was about to end the call, the professor spoke out again.

"Also, make sure Aida knows I'm alright, tell her there's nothing to worry about."

"Gotcha professor," he agreed offhandedly.

Before anything else could be said, Achille mashed the end button and slumped back in his chair as he tossed his PokeNav onto the desk, landing with a soft thud. He groaned. More responsibilities that he didn't want to have, but that's what he should've expected when he took the job as Professor Arborvitae's assistant.

**8:30 AM**

**Cuilogna Town - International Trainer School**

The headmaster jotted several things down on the notepad in front of him before casting a glance at the clock above the doorway leading to his office. The minute hand had barely moved. It was still 8:30.

He shook his head in incredulity. They were both late. Unbelievable. Not only were they late, but they were a half hour late. Perhaps it would be excusable if they were, say, five or ten minutes late. But a full 30 minutes? This is becoming unacceptable!

"I'm sorry I'm late headmaster," A girl murmured as she walked into the office and slowly shut the door behind her. She was dressed in standard school uniform: a white blouse neatly tucked into black dress pants and secured by a brown leather belt, followed by black lace up shoes. Wrapped around the collar of her blouse was a white tie. Short yet messy light brown bangs fell over her round brown eyes, giving her a boyish appearance.

Looking up at the clock again and down at the girl, the headmaster only sighed.

"Just take a seat." He said annoyed as he scooted the papers in front of him aside. "Why are you 30 minutes late Melanie?"

Melanie sat in an armchair directly in front of the headmaster. "I was getting dressed… you know the usual," she responded with a honeyed voice.

He raised an eyebrow. "Something that usually takes 10 minutes somehow took you 30?" He countered skeptically.

"Not to mention the time I got up-"

"I sent someone to wake you at around an hour ago. You literally had a full hour to get ready and get down here," he said irritated.

"Well I am deeply sorry for being late Headmaster Patya," she sarcastically apologized with a roll of her eyes. "Now can I know the reason I'm here?"

"Not yet," he answered as he paced in front of her.

"What? Why not? What was the point of chewing me out then for being late if you're not even going to tell me what you called me here for?" she demanded, raising her voice and rising out of her seat in the process.

"Do not raise your voice at me young lady!" he said sharply, causing Melanie to flinch, falling back into her seat. "We're waiting for someone else," he said in a calmer tone.

She looked at him in puzzlement. "Someone else?"

Almost on cue, a boy appearing no older than Melanie stumbled into the room. Like Melanie, he was dressed in the school's uniform: a white button up shirt and a black tie wrapped around the collar, under a black vest. They were sloppily tucked into his black dress pants which lacked a belt, followed by shiny leather lace up shoes. His messy black hair was mostly swept to the left, with a few strands idly covering his dark blue eyes.

Before the headmaster even spoke, the boy turned to face Melanie in surprise. "W-what is she doing here?!" he asked angrily.

Melanie stood from her chair and approached him, "I could ask the same thing about you!" She turned to the headmaster. "What is Obsidian doing here?!"

"Calm down, both of you-"

Before he could finish, a full blown argument broke out between the two. Unbelievable. He did not wait this long for two students to show up before him, only for them to get in a argument of this scale in front of him. The audacity!

The headmaster had had enough.

"Quiet, the both of you!" he yelled. This did little to stop the arguing teens, and finally, something snapped. Headmaster Patya slammed his hands on his desk. His voice practically roared, echoing throughout the school as he shouted. "RIGHT NOW!"

The room was instantly silenced, and both Obsidian and Melanie looked in the headmaster's direction. Now happy he had their attention, cleared his throat and took a deep breath.

"I understand both of you have a strong rivalry of sorts going on, and that's alright. I understand that. But to bring your little conflict into my office when I have summoned you for a completely different reason and begin your senseless bickering right in front of me is inexcusable and downright disrespectful," he then walked straight to his seat behind his desk and sat down, placing his hands in front of him.

"Now," he continued, "If you would both please take a seat and I will discuss what I have called you here for."

Shaken up by the headmaster's sudden outburst, both Obsidian and Melanie took a seat across from the headmaster in compliance. Despite the fact that they were told not to argue, it did nothing to stop the glares and dirty looks they shot back and forth.

"Good. I have called you down here for a very special reason."

Melanie, anxious to find out what this reason was was on the edge of her seat. Obsidian looked at her indifferently, then scoffed at her behavior. He sat back in his seat, doing the exact opposite of Melanie, though he found this 'special reason' curious.

"Are you aware of a group of trainers known as the Pokedex holders?" he asked leaning forward.

This caught Obsidian's attention. The Pokedex holders. An elite group of trainers renowned all over the world for their prowess on anything involving Pokemon. They were famous for multiple things, from being champions to gym leaders to mystical healing powers, and the list goes on. He leaned forward in his chair, now interested.

Melanie simply nodded.

"You two are this school's top students. You both are very capable trainers of equal skill."

Melanie smirked. Equal? Please. She knew she was better than Obsidian by a long shot.

"This brings me to the reason I've called you two here. You've caught the attention of our region's Professor Arborvitae. He's recently worked with the famous Professor Oak of Kanto to give two trainers of Mutare a Pokedex each. Professor Arborvitae has determined that one of the trainers to receive a Pokedex shall be from this school."

"That's great! When do I get it?" Melanie interrupted.

"That's exactly why I've summoned you today."

Melanie looked at him confused.

"Allow me to elaborate," he continued. "Professor Arborvitae already has one trainer he's personally selected to receive said device. Because of this, he's allowed me to chose one of the top students from this school to receive one as well."

"But there's one Pokedex and two of us," Obsidian remarked. "Why did you call both of us up here instead of just one of us?"

"Well, that's the thing. Only one of you will receive a Pokedex from Arborvitae. To determine who, you will have to settle this via a Pokemon battle."

It was if those words were the spark to the powder keg that were Obsidian and Melanie. They turned to face each other with burning passion in their eyes. Standing up almost simultaneously, they positioned themselves into battle stances and reached for their pockets, where their pokeballs were. Realizing what was about to happen, the headmaster rushed from his chair and broke up the altercation between the two.

"Are you two daft?! What make's you think it's a good idea to battle inside, and moreover in my office?!" he scolded at them.

"S-sorry headmaster," Melanie sheepishly apologized. "Guess we got a bit ahead of ourselves." She glared at Obsidian, who smirked at her.

"We're supposed to win via battle, Melanie." he stated. "Flattery will get you no where."

"Oh, like you haven't sucked up to a bunch of teachers you narcissistic son of a-!"

"Language!" the headmaster scolded sharply. "And you can't battle right now! If you would've let me finish instead of rushing for your Pokemon like maniacs, you would've heard that you're scheduled to battle tomorrow in the morning."

"In the morning again?" Melanie complained. Obsidian smirked.

"If Melanie is late again, do I win the battle?"

"Why, exactly, were you late, Obsidian?" the headmaster asked, raising an eyebrow. Obsidian shrugged.

"Reasons." Obsidian stated, waving the matter away. "Yes or no?"

"I suppose." he stated with an exasperated sigh. "You have all of today to prepare yourselves for tomorrow. Now I know this is incredibly impromptu, but I'm sure you two are still cable of preparation in such a short amount of time." A pause.

"And our graduation?" Melanie asked, reminding the headmaster of a date he knew all to well; the graduation of his students.

"I'm well aware of that. I'll work something out and have someone get you when it's time. Now go."

Obsidian and Melanie nodded and exited the office at the same time, leaving the headmaster to himself. He sighed deeply. Crazy children. Granted, they were good students and skilled trainers and were ready to take on the world. He just felt that they hadn't reached the maturity he had hoped for.

"Oh well." he muttered, leaning back in his chair. "They've got passion, that's for sure."

Surely Arborvitae wouldn't mind having either of those two running around with a Pokedex, right?

"Alright Oby," Melanie started as soon as they were outside, "You have two choices: tell the headmaster you have no interest in a Pokedex and save yourself from the humiliation of me utterly destroying you tomorrow, or suffer the humiliation of me utterly destroying you tomorrow."

Obsidian scowled at her. "First of all, do not call me 'Oby', second of all, I am not going to forfeit just because you're telling me to. You're underestimating me and that will be your downfall."

"Oh please, I don't need to underestimate someone when I know I'm better than they are, Oby."

"Better than me? Please. You can't even count."

Melanie's cheeks puffed out in anger. "Excuse me?"

"Choice one, forget the pokédex. Choice two, save myself from suffering utter humiliation. Choice three, suffer humiliation." he mocked curiously, counting on his fingers. "One, two... three, I believe."

"Why you-!"

Obsidian shook his head, blocking her out as she ranted about how much of a jerk he was. There was no use arguing with this girl, though he found it increasingly entertaining to mock her. Though as long as she hadn't lost, she would keep boasting about how great she was until someone defeated her or proved her wrong. And he knew he had the skill to do it. Getting an itch in his ear, he stuck his pinkie finger in, nonchalantly twisting it around to remove the irritating sensation.

"Trying to argue with you is obviously futile." he said in a bored tone, knowing it would drive Melanie up the wall. "I'm leaving."

"Hah! See, you gave up on an argument, what chance do you have during an actual battle?"

"Because I know I have skill outside of recklessly shrieking at my pokémon." Obsidian responded with a shrug, even though he knew this wasn't even true. He only said it to push her buttons.

"We'll have to see tomorrow I guess!" she fumed.

"I'm about an hour late for class," Obsidian said.

"I'll see ya tomorrow, Oby! Prepare to wallow on your knees in utter defeat!" she taunted before walking off in the opposite direction. Obsidian cast a glance at her for a moment, then smirked.

"On my knees? Please." he chuckled. "I'm going to knock you off your high and mighty pedestal, Melanie. just you wait."

* * *

**We finally get to meet Obsidian and his rival Melanie, and get a quick mention of Granite. But the real question is, who will win the Pokedex? Who will forever have the bragging rights of owning a Pokedex?**

**Only time will tell.**

**Also, the sudden timeskip from January to June isn't actually a timeskip, as I went back into the other chapters and edited the month as well. I just thought that June would be a much suitable time for this story to take place. Why? Because Summer.**


	4. The Package

**Back again with another chapter! I don't really have much to say this time. **

**Well enjoy ^_^**

* * *

**June 24th 2XXX**

**12:15 PM**

**Unknown Location**

Jorge sat patiently across from Stuart, who had been unconscious for over eighteen hours after they kidnapped him in Centrantico City. He tilted his head back and sighed. Watching an unconscious man tied to a metal chair was about as entertaining as watching a dead Magikarp. At least if he was awake he could watch him struggle, but no. He just kept on sleeping.

Jorge suddenly whipped his head towards the door as another grunt, Domenico, walked in and slammed the door shut behind him. Jorge winced. The slam was loud enough to wake any person up.

But, of course, Stuart sat completely motionless. Jorge sighed, running a hand over his face in irritation. At least he was breathing.

"How long has he been unconscious?" Domenico asked as he paced around their prisoner.

"Around eighteen hours." Jorge responded, looking over his hand that sat over his mouth.

"Damn. You hit him that hard?"

Jorge let his arm fall to his side, nodding. "Any harder and he would've dropped into a coma."

"Don't flatter yourself." Domenico stated, poking Stuarts face, smirking as he didn't even respond.

"I still don't understand why we kidnapped him." Jorge said with a sigh.

"Hasn't it become obvious yet?" Domenico asked, deciding to stop poking the captive to turn to him.

"Well, yeah. He's part of Atavic, but what was the point of kidnapping him? Why not just kidnap the CEO or something instead of this mook?" to punctuate this statement, Jorge walked over, nudging Stuart's leg with his foot. Stuart twitched slightly, moaning slightly. Jorge rose an eyebrow, prodding him a little more.

Domenico sighed, dismissing his response as Stuart began showing signs of consciousness.

"He's waking up," Jorge stated.

"Thank you Captain Obvious. Domenico rolled his eyes. "Should we call Zera or Mons?"

"No need gentlemen."

Both grunts looked towards the door and saw Zane entering the room, now donning his team's uniform of white body armor instead of the formal attire he had worn earlier. Accompanying him was Zera, his commander.

She was only slightly smaller in stature in comparison to her underlings. Her hair is a light platinum blonde shade falling to her shoulders, complemented by a few streaks of red within her bangs. Like Zane and the grunts around her, she wore the same white body armor, albeit a small multi-colored stone embedded onto the side of her visor.

Jorge quickly stopped prodding Stuart and saluted her, followed by Domenico. He shuffled towards her slowly before she cast a glare that froze him in his tracks.

"At ease," she said as she walked towards Stuart, now barely conscious. She looked up at the duo. "How long has he been unconscious?"

"Eighteen hours, ma'am," Jorge replied in a modulated voice.

"He looks as if he's waking up," she said restating what Domenico had said moments earlier, to which he subtly responded by rolling his eyes.

"We'll be ready to begin the interrogation as soon as he wakes up, ma'am."

"No need," she simply replied.

"Ma'am…?"

"Zane," she said gesturing towards the admin standing in front of the door, "...will handle the interrogation. Seeing your success with kidnapping this man here, you two have been reassigned to a mission much more… suited to your merit."

"And… what would this mission be?"

Zera slyly smiled. "That's what I came to tell you."

o.0.o.0.o

Stuart's sense slowly started coming back as he rocked his head back and forth an in attempt to try and rid of the blurriness. The first thing that hit him was the smell: a ghastly scent of mold. This gave him a pretty unpleasant mental image of where he currently was.

His eyes slowly opened as his vision slowly got clearer and objects in front of him got sharper. A quick glimpse of his surroundings confirmed his semi-accurate mental image: he was in a room surrounded by concrete walls and a single metal door. He quickly tried to move his hands, only to find them tied behind his back. Looking down at his legs quickly asserted that they were too, tied.

Momentary panic set in as he whipped his head around, trying to discern where he was and how he would get out. This action only caused the pain in his head to increase, waves of dizziness falling over him. His stomach rolled in panic as he tried not to puke.

"Help!" he yelled out. No response. "Someone, anyone!" The second attempt was just as successful as the last. All he knew was that all four of his limbs were currently immobile and that he was in alone in a moldy, dimly lit room. Bowing his head, tried to recollect all that had happened in the last twenty four hours.

There was the technology summit he had attended, being the second speaker on stage. Then there was the sudden blackout, to which he had hastily gathered all of his belongings into his suitcase and ducked under a table when explosions rang out around him. The images became fuzzy as he tried to remember past that. He furrowed his brow.

Running.

He remembered running from several men dressed in white armor of sorts. Then he could remember no more. He had come to the assumption that whatever had happened afterwards, which he could remember nothing of, was somehow related to those armored men who were chasing him.

Struggling against his restraints, he looked around the room for any sharp object of sorts he could somehow get his hands on to make an escape.

He found nothing of the sorts.

Behind him, the door creaked opened, His breath hitched in his throat as he heard someone chomping on some sort of fruit.

"It's about you wake up, Fallon," the man uttered with his mouth full as he walked in front of him. Swallowing and wiping his mouth of the apple juice, he grinned. "My name is Zane, and I have some questions for you."

Stuart instantly recognized the uniform Zane was wearing, confirming his assumptions: he had been kidnapped by those men during the summit back in Centrantico City. Stuart was suddenly filled with rage as he began to violently fight against his restraints, to no avail.

"You… you son of a… where am I?! What do you want with me?!" he spat angrily.

"You don't need to know that," Zane responded calmly as he took another bite out of his apple.

"Why on earth not?!" Stuart retorted, again attempting to free his hands. Zane held up his index finger on his spare hand, telling him to wait as he swallowed the last of his fruit.

"Hungry?" he taunted as he tossed the apple core at his captive, it bouncing off his nose and landing on the floor.

"Will you stop toying with me? Answer me!"

"It's simple." Zane shrugged.

"How so?"

"All you need to do is tell us all we want to know, and you're free. You scratch my back I'll scratch yours. This isn't your traditional kidnapping where we ask for a ridiculous amount of money for your release. No, we have plenty of money." He paused, taking his chin in his hand as he sat thoughtfully. "... I think?"

Stuart shook his head. "There is nothing for me to tell you. Nothing!"

"Oh really?" Zane approached him, tilting his body slightly towards him and looking him in the eye. "Are you sure there is nothing to share about Atavic's little underground operation?"

Stuart visibly flinched, his facial expression going from pure anger to nervousness and confusion. How did he know about that? That was top secret…! Who were these people?!

"W-what are you talking about?"

"Oh don't act like you don't know," he countered sharply, noticing the change of Stuart's expression.

Stuart ground his teeth. "Like I already said, I've nothing to say."

Zane sighed as he stood up, turning his back to him.

"Well… that's a shame," he said nonchalantly. Reaching down for his belt, he grabbed his Pokeball. Facing back at Stuart, he grinned.

"Oh, I've nothing to say!" He repeated in a mocking, high pitched voice. He snickered. "Well… that's what they all say before the screaming starts."

"S-screaming?"

Zane simply nodded as he threw the Pokeball towards the middle of the room, releasing a tall, yellow humanoid Pokemon.

"Electrivire!" It growled loudly. It's piercing red eyes gazed aimlessly while it awaited for instructions from Zane. "Electrivire, teach our guest how to be a bit more cooperative and to watch that foul mouth of his," he said as he nonchalantly started for the door.

The yellow Pokemon nodded, pushing the tips of it's tails together, creating bright static electricity that illuminated the dim room.

"W-wait! I'll tell you all you need to know! Anything you want!" Stuart pleaded, realizing what the situation he was in. "Just, please don't do this!"

"A bit too late for that, Mister Fallon. Should've spoke up earlier," he remarked smugly as he began to close the door, waving cheerfully as if a parent to his child. "I'll be back in an hour. Have fun~!"

o.0.o.0.o

**1:50 PM**

**Verdise Town - Train Station**

Standing in the middle of the train platform was a girl of fifteen years. Her black, shoulder length hair blew lightly in the wind, a few strands of sideswept bangs flowing over her deep red eyes, the same color as her namesake. She wore a simple white t-shirt with a half Pokeball graphic in the center, covered by a black short waistcoat, followed by light blue shorts and finally light brown combat boots.

She had received a phone call earlier from a rather disappointed sounding Achille instructing her to head over to Verdise City and receive a package from Professor Oak's assistant, who would be arriving in the train station. It wasn't a surprise that Professor Arborvitae would rather have her receive such an important package instead of Achille in his absence. The man could be so irresponsible!

If she remembers correctly, the assistant of the famed Pokemon professor was none other than Crystal. The only female member of the Johto Pokedex holders, and the only one out of all the dexholders who captured all non-legendary pokemon in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh.

Granite closed her eyes and sighed, trying to calm her nerves. For years she had dreamed of meeting a Pokedex holder, and now to actually meet one in person… She thought it was but a dream when she first heard about it from the professor.

And yet it was becoming a reality.

Growing ever more nervous and impatient by the minute, she stuck her hand in her shorts pocket and pulled out her Pokegear to check the time. It read 2:00 PM, meaning the train was about to arrive at any given second. Hearing the shriek of a whistle, she looked up as she put away the device to see the train coming to a halt. She looked up at the ceiling as a jingle echoed throughout the station, indicating the arrival.

_"The train from Acquanale City has now made it's arrival on platform 10."_

"Finally!" Granite sighed, placing a hand over her still pounding heart in an attempt to calm herself. She saw the doors open, people beginning to pour out of the cars. Granite stood on her toes in an attempt to spot the bluenette within the crowds.

Seeing no one who resembled the Dex holder, she shifted positions along the platform as she repeated the same process, again finding no one. Her nervousness went to confused curiosity, she stood flat on her feet, crossing her arms.

"Well that's odd," she said standing up straight and crossing her arms. "This is the only train from Acquanale City… and Achille said the assistant was arriving today… so where is she?"

She scouted the platform a while longer, again with the same results. She checked her Pokegear for the time, finding it to be fifteen minutes past the hour. She sighed, confusion going to anxiety as she became nervous for a different reason.

"Maybe she missed the train? No, based on stories I've been told, she's very responsible… Maybe _I'm_ the irresponsible one and she arrived earlier and I missed her? Oh Arceus, please don't let it be that…!" she continued to pace, trying to figure out what was wrong. Some people cast her strange looks as she began muttering to herself, but they said nothing. "Maybe the professor got the dates confused? But he's so meticulous... I'll bet Achille told me the wrong time to be here to get back at me!"

She continued this for a few minutes, going through other possibilities. Sighing, she stopped pacing and smacked her cheeks with her hands to refocus.

"Alright Granite," she muttered, "...compose yourself. She'll be here eventually. She's obviously trying to find me too, so I should just stay put and wait for her to come to me!" She nodded at her idea, smiling to herself. She stood still for a few minutes, silently rocking back and forth as she waited for the blunette to make her presence known. Finding a bench, she sat down, twiddling her thumbs.

She once again dug in her pockets for her Pokegear to check the time. Twenty minutes past the hour. Just to make sure she hadn't missed her, she scanned the crowd one more time.

"And so the waiting continues," she mused.

"Excuse me?" a female voice rang out in Granite's direction.

"Yes?" Granite responded looking up at the young woman, roughly thirteen years of age. The girl's hair was tied back into two gravity defying pigtails, eyes a light crystal blue. Her attire was simple, consisting of a red shirt and a straw colored skirt. On her feet were reasonable sneakers, and over the whole outfit was a white lab coat. In her hands was a small cardboard box.

"Are you, by chance, the assistant of Professor Arborvitae?" she inquired.

"Yes!" Granite blurted, then swallowed. "I-I mean, yes." she stood, holding out her hand. "I'm Granite."

"Thank Arceus I found you." the girl responded. "It was a rush when I had Gold get me to Goldenrod City." her face turned into a grimace. "I was sure I got on the wrong train. I'm so relieved I didn't. I'm Crystal."

_"That sounds familiar._" Granite thought, smiling politely as they shook hands, trying not to have a panic attack.

"Anyways, on behalf of Professor Oak, I'm supposed to deliver these to you," she said holding the box towards Granite. The raven-haired girl gently took the box, smiling.

"I never thought I would ever meet an actual Pokedex holder, let alone under these circumstances!" Granite blurted out before she could stop herself.. "It's truly an honor to meet someone of your stature and influence!"

"Thank you!" she smiled. "I'm flattered."

"So, uh, what are these?" she asked changing the subject matter.

"Those are the Pokedexes that Professor Arborvitae had requested." Crystal stated, quirking an eyebrow.

Granite mentally facepalmed. Of course, how could she forget about the Pokedexes? The professor would always bring up the Pokedexes at random times and how he couldn't wait to receive them. She swallowed, smiling off her silly mistake.

"So that means someone Mutare is going to join the ranks of the Dexholders?" Granite asked curiously.

"That's what professor Oak told me." she said. "It would be nice to have more juniors, you know. Whomever they are, tell them I wish them the best of luck on their adventures!" She looked about. "Well, anyways, I have a few things I need to do here before the train home comes. Maybe I'll see you soon, Granite. Make sure you deliver those dexes safe and sound to Professor Arborvitae."

"Oh, um, of course!" she said as she inspected the box. "It was an honor meeting you, Crystal!"

"Likewise," Crystal said checking her Pokegear. "Well, I have to get going now. Something has come up and Professor Oak wants me back as soon as possible."

"Understandable. Please take care!" Granite told her as Crystal hastened over to get her errands done. She glanced at the box again, beaming, anxiety about what happened earlier completely gone.

As she started for the exit, two figures who had overheard the entire conversation between the two girls looked at each other, and nodded.

o.0.o.0.o

Granite strolled along the streets of Verdise Town, thinking about her rather brief encounter with Crystal. She was completely overjoyed at the fact that she actually met a dexholder, she simply couldn't get over it! Perhaps she was a little too enthusiastic…

She shook her head a brief moment later. _Nah..._

She had reached the outskirts of Verdise Town with a few minutes, where the Arborvitae Research Lab was located. Granite knew the reason being so was because it wasn't that big of a town. It was, in fact, the second smallest town in Mutare right after it's neighbor to the north, Nuovomence Town.

As Granite reached the rural edge of town, she stopped, glancing around at the tree about her, feeling as if she was being watched. Spinning around in a full circle, she saw no one. Narrowing her eyes, she glanced about again, then shrugged it off and continued walking towards the lab.

The feeling didn't go away. Instead, the anxiety grew with each passing moment. She tried to remain composed. Something rustled in the bushes, and she whipped around, pokeball in hand. She narrowed her eyes as the bushes rustled again. Suddenly, a Sentret popped out, scurrying past her. She stared at the little thing, then laughed.

"It's just a Pokemon," she said. "Granite, you got worked up over nothing! Calm down!" She opened her eyes, smiling lightly at her antics.

That's when she heard bushes rustling loudly behind her. She stiffened. Either that was a huge pokemon, or something really was following her. Reacting quickly, she tightened her grip on the pokeball from her belt and held it out towards the source of the sound.

"Who's there?" she yelled out. Loud yet unintelligible whispers could be heard from behind the bushes. She narrowed her eyes, trying not to quiver as she clutched the package to her chest. "Alright now I know someone is following me! I have a Pokemon and I'm not afraid to use it!" she threatened, wincing as her voice broke partway through.

"Dammit Jorge, I told you she would find us!" a male voice called out from the bushes. Branches could be heard snapping as a man in white body armor emerged from the foliage.

"Alright let's make this quick, then Domenico!" he announced as soon as he was fully out of the bush. Granite stumbled back in shock. What kind of crazy outfit was _that_?!

"Hand over the package, kid, and no one gets hurt." Jorge, or at least, that's who Granite assumed it was, demanded as he appeared out of the leaves.

"And why should I listen to you guys?" she retorted, taking a step back. A second man came from the bushes, Domenico, Granite guessed.

"Because… we have Pokemon!" Domenico replied.

"Um… I have a Pokemon too…" Granite stated. "So what's your point?"

"Well… we outnumber you!" Domenico said reaching for his belt. "Huh-?" He patted himself around the waist, then checked the pouches on his body armor.

"What seems to be the problem, Domenico?" Jorge asked as he reached down and swiped his own Pokeball from his belt.

"Um… Jorge…?"

"What? I already asked you what's wrong!" Jorge yelled as he turned to face his companion.

"I kinda left my Pokemon back at base."

"Are you kidding me?" Jorge said pinching the nose of his bridge in frustration. "No matter!" he announced turning towards Granite "It can't be that hard to take one package from a teenage girl. We're two fully grown men, dammit! So," Jorge smirked. "Are you going to hand it over or are we going to take it from you by force?"

Granite cast her eyes to Domenico, who stood awkwardly off to the side. Honestly, she would have thought he would have made a move to grab her or something while she was, currently defenseless.

"You guys are really bad at this," she stated.

Jorge blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Well I mean you guys tried to ambush me or something of the sorts, right? But one of you forgot your pokemon and the other one is too loud to stalk. You should just give up."

Both men stared at her in disbelief. Domenico crossed his arms and stared at the ground while Jorge exhaled loudly, lowering his head. Then looked at her and grinned.

"Time to teach you a some respect, little girl! Roggenrola!"

He tossed his Pokeball, and out emerged a small, blue, roughly spherical shaped Pokemon. It's body was covered in smooth facets and in the center was a yellow hexagonal shaped indent. On it's head was a brown rocky oblong and it's feet where stubby little rocks.

Granite looked at him with a worried face. A Pokemon battle? She hadn't battled anyone since she was eleven, and even then she only pulled out her Pokeball in hopes of intimidating her stalkers. She didn't expect them to actually have Pokemon as she only saw them as petty thieves. Then she went and pissed them off…

She took a step back. Roggenrola were pretty slow, and that armor looked pretty heavy. She could probably outrun them...

"What's wrong? Scared?" Jorge taunted. "Just hand over the box and you won't have to get hurt."

"Go, Aron!" she yelled as she hesitantly threw the Pokeball in her hand in front of her.

From it emerged a small grey quadruped with stubby legs and a round head. Grey armor covered it's body, along with two blunt spikes protruding from it's back. It had six opening in it's head, the two largest serving as it's sockets for it's large blue eyes.

"Aw, isn't that cute," Jorge taunted. "Its'a shame I'm gonna have to put an end to your little friend. Roggenrola, Rock Blast!"

The spherical Pokemon 'leaped' into the air, producing several large boulder as large as itself and hurled them at Aron. Granite reacted quickly, ordering her Pokemon to avoid the attack. Aron proved to be too slow, however, and took the full brunt of the attack, causing it to stumble backwards.

"Aron!" she called out in a worried tone, panicking a bit. "_Compose yourself._" she thought taking a deep breath.

"What, giving me another turn? How kind of you! Roggenrola, Sand Attack!"

The Pokemon nodded and kicked it's feet at the ground, whipping up a dust cloud that was sent straight at Aron's direction.

Granite winced. She thought quickly and recalled from one of Professor Arborvitae's lectures that a Sand Attack reduced the vision of the victim, or in battle terms, 'accuracy'. She suddenly remembered that her Aron also knew an attack that reduced vision and dealt damage as well.

"Aron, Mup Slap!" she ordered.

Aron obeyed and launched a barrage of mud at it's adversary, damaging it quite a bit. The Roggenrola tried to shake the mud off it's 'face'.

"It's no use! Rock Blast again!"

"Harden!" she yelled.

Aron's armor glimmered as the boulders hit against Aron, dealing damage but not as much as the last time. Even so, it was beginning to look exhausted, despite only being hit twice.

"I'm kinda getting the hang of this…" Granite muttered. "I think."

"Good job hitting a steel type with a rock type attack Jorge," Domenico mocked. Jorge glared at him.

"Hey, this Roggenrola is all I have, alright? All it knows is rock type moves. Plus, if you hadn't forgotten your Pokemon, this would've been over with! So shut up!" he countered angrily.

"That's right! Rock is ineffective against steel, but steel is effective against rock!" she recalled outloud, earning an eye roll from Jorge.

"Hah! Your little epiphany won't help at all kid! Rock Blast!"

Again, Roggenrola produce several boulders and hurled it at Aron, missing just barely. Granite smirked, seeing her opportunity. She pointed her finger at the spherical Pokemon.

"Metal Claw!" she ordered.

With it's stubby legs, it ran as fast as it could towards it's opponent before it could react and lunged at it with it's 'claws'. Roggenrola was sent flying towards it's trainer, landing right in front of Jorge.

"Uh… Roggenrola…?" he said as he approached and inspected his Pokemon.

Receiving no response, he gently nudged the Pokemon with his foot.

"Oh don't tell me…" he muttered in disbelief. Another quick nudge confirmed his suspicions: his Pokemon had been knocked out _in a single hit_.

Domenico in the back was trying to hold in his laughter. Jorge simply looked back at him and gave him a dirty look, silencing him.

Granite on the other hand, was overjoyed. Her first battle in three years and she won! She felt empowered, like she was able to take on anyone or anything. Or perhaps it was just dumb luck she had the type advantage.

"There! I won, now get out of here!"

"Ugh… no matter!" Jorge started as he returned his unconscious Pokemon. "It's not like you can just walk away from this like nothing happened! Either you hand over the Pokedexes or we will hurt you!" he threatened.

"How do you know about the Pokedexes?" she asked as she began to back away, Aron taking a defensive position in front of her.

"You don't need to know that! Just hand them over!" He looked back at Domenico. "Help me out!"

He nodded and rushed over to Jorge, standing next to him.

"Come on Granite, now's your chance to run…" she muttered to herself.

"Aron, Tackle them!"

Jorge suddenly felt a sharp pain as the little Pokemon leaped and tackled the man in the stomach, knocking the air out of him.

"O-oh shit!" Domenico said startle as he back away.

"What… are… you doing? A-attack her!" Jorge managed between breaths.

"Oh hell no! I'm not about to get pummeled by 130 pounds of metal!"

"Ugh… dammit!" Jorge clutched his stomach as he winced in pain. "Help me up!"

Domenico rushed over to his downed comrade, helping him up with one hand over each other's shoulders.

"You win this time kid, but next time we'll be ready. Expect us!" Domenico announced before he and Jorge slowly teetered off into the dense foliage, disappearing from sight.

Granite looked down at her Pokemon, overjoyed.

"We won Aron! I can't believe it-!" she paused, mid thought. "This is no time to be celebrating. Those were no ordinary thieves and they somehow they knew about the Pokedexes! I have to inform Professor Arborvitae about this occurrence as soon as possible.

She returned her Aron to it's Pokeball as she hung it on her belt, and bolted off towards the lab as fast as she could.

* * *

**And so we finally meet Granite and get a short cameo from Crystal! Brilliant.**

**All I can say is keep an eye out on my profile for that map of the Mutare region I promised like a month ago. Hehe, sorry.**

**It'll be there eventually.**

**Next time: Obsidian and Melanie face off for the Pokedex! Who will win and forever gain infinite bragging rights?**

**Find out on the next chapter of The Obsidian and Granite Arc!**


End file.
